Connecting Lee-Davis since 1959

Menu

Sci-Fi Second: Rogue One

Over 4 billion dollars was spent by Disney to purchase Lucasfilm, the company that owned Star Wars. While they’ve certainly made some of that back with its billion dollar box office hit The Force Awakens, Disney has decided in between the releases of it’s major films (Episodes VII VIII & IX) they will release a series of films that explore a bit deeper into the universe. The first of these is Rogue One.

The movie takes place in between Episode III and IV and details the story of how the Death Star plans were stolen and given to the rebels.

Rogue One has many problems, and early on in the film it shows. Much of the first few minutes hop from setting to setting, and none of the characters are particularly unique. While it’s easy to remember Rey or Finn from The Force Awakens, it’s hard to form an attachment to characters from Rogue One. Even harder is actually remembering their names. However, as the film gets deeper into the plot, more interesting characters arise, including a blind Chirrut Îmwe and a reprogrammed droid named K-2SO.

Avoiding spoilers, the movie continues dragging for the first two acts. Most characters still seem bland and undeveloped. However, in the final third, the movie has one of the best climaxes in Star Wars history. It’s a fun, epic and tense space battle on a grand scale that had people’s hearts pounding and on the edge of their seats. To refrain from spoilers, that’s all that will be said in the review.

Another positive of the movie is the incredible settings and CGI. While a lot of the character CGI isn’t perfect, the settings are all amazing and beautiful. Nothing looks like the prequels, were obvious CGI ruined immersion.

While on first glance, it would seem that Rogue One is a failure, the truth is that it’s the opposite. Even though it’s hardly a masterpiece, the movie still is a fun movie worth seeing, even if just for the climax. Rouge One is a must see while we all hold our breath for Episode VIII, coming out later this year.